Tag Archive for 'Solar System'

The young Mars would have had enough water to cover its entire surface in a liquid layer about 140 m deep, but it is more likely that the liquid would have pooled to form an ocean occupying almost half of Mars’s northern hemisphere, and in some regions reaching depths greater than 1.6 km. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO / N. Risinger, skysurvey.org.

Water Present on All Rocky Planets, Martian Meteorite Study Suggests

Nov 10, 2020 by News Staff

Water may emerge in connection with the formation of terrestrial planets, according to a new analysis of a Martian meteorite called North West Africa (NWA)...

This illustration of Jupiter’s moon Europa shows how its icy surface may glow on its nightside. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Europa’s Icy Surface Glows in the Dark, New Study Suggests

Nov 10, 2020 by News Staff

Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is bombarded by a constant and intense blast of radiation from the gas giant. Different salty compounds on the moon’s surface...

This colorized radar image, taken by NASA’s Cassini orbiter on February 15, 2005, shows a 60-km (37-mile) wide crater on Titan. The appearance of the crater and the extremely bright (hence rough) blanket of material surrounding it is indicative of an origin by impact, in which a hypervelocity comet or asteroid, in this case, roughly 5-10 km (3-6 miles) in size, slammed into the surface of the moon. The bright surrounding blanket is debris, or ejecta, thrown out of the crater. The asymmetric appearance of this ejecta blanket could be an effect of atmospheric winds associated with the impact itself. Although clearly formed by impact, the feature lacks a central peak, suggesting that it has been eroded or otherwise modified after formation. Rainfall, wind erosion, and softening of the solid material in which the crater formed are all possible processes that might have altered this impact feature. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASI.

Cassini Finds Organics and Water Ice in Titan’s Impact Craters

Nov 6, 2020 by News Staff

Using the spectral data collected by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, a team of researchers has...

This illustration of NASA’s Mars 2020 spacecraft in interplanetary space was generated using imagery from NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System. The image is from the mission’s midway point between Earth and Mars. Visible in the graphic are the solar panels on the cruise stage surrounding the top of the aeroshell. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Mars 2020 Spacecraft is Midway to Red Planet, NASA Says

Nov 5, 2020 by News Staff

On October 27, 2020, at 4:40 EDT (1:40 p.m. PDT), NASA’s Mars 2020 spacecraft, which includes the Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity helicopter, reached...

This image shows a triple crater in Noachis Terra, Mars. The largest crater measures 45 km across, and the smallest 28 km. There are also signs of other sizeable craters, such as the round patches of sunken surface seen to the top right and bottom left. This image comprises data gathered by ESA’s Mars Express using its High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on August 6, 2020. This image was created using data from the nadir and color channels of the HRSC. The nadir channel is aligned perpendicular to the surface of Mars, as if looking straight down at the surface. North is to the right. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Mars Express Spots Triple Crater on Red Planet

Nov 3, 2020 by News Staff

ESA’s Mars Express orbiter has spotted three overlapping craters in Noachis Terra, an extensive landmass in the southern hemisphere of Mars. This image...

This image shows OSIRIS-REx’s collector head hovering over the Sample Return Capsule after the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism arm moved it into the proper position for capture. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / University of Arizona / Lockheed Martin.

OSIRIS-REx Stows Sample of Asteroid Bennu’s Regolith

Oct 30, 2020 by News Staff

On October 28, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully stowed its Sample Return Capsule (SRC) with a sample of surface material from the near-Earth...

Juno Observes Sprites and Elves in Upper Atmosphere of Jupiter

Oct 30, 2020 by News Staff

NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been in orbit around Jupiter since 2016. One of its instruments is the ultraviolet spectrograph (UVS), which is primarily...

This image, taken by the Large Monolithic Imager on the 4.3-m Lowell Discovery Telescope on October 14, 2020, shows C/2014 OG392 (PANSTARRS) and its extensive coma; the dashed lines are star trails caused by the long exposure. Image credit: Northern Arizona University.

Cometary Activity Spotted on Distant Centaur

Oct 29, 2020 by News Staff

A team of astronomers from Northern Arizona University and Lowell Observatory has discovered cometary activity on 2014 OG392, a distant centaur object...

A false-color view of Titan, a moon of Saturn surrounded by a thick orange haze. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona / University of Idaho.

Cyclopropenylidene Detected in Atmosphere of Titan

Oct 28, 2020 by News Staff

Using high sensitivity spectroscopic observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected a small cyclic...

Hubble Detects Iron and Iron Oxide on Asteroid Psyche

Oct 27, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have observed the main-belt asteroid (16) Psyche, the...

This illustration highlights Clavius Crater on the Moon with an illustration depicting water trapped in the lunar soil there, along with an image of SOFIA. Image credit: NASA.

SOFIA Detects Molecular Water on Sunlit Surface of Moon

Oct 26, 2020 by News Staff

Using data gathered by the Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST) onboard the NASA/DLR Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy...

This image from OSIRIS-REx’s SamCam camera shows that the spacecraft’s sampler head is full of rocks and dust collected from the surface of Bennu. Image credit: NASA.

OSIRIS-REx Collects Sufficient Sample of Asteroid Bennu’s Regolith

Oct 26, 2020 by News Staff

During the ‘Touch-And-Go’ sample collection event on October 20, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collected more than enough surface material (at...

An artist concept of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / Goddard.

New Images Show OSIRIS-REx’s Sample Collection on Bennu

Oct 23, 2020 by News Staff

Stunning new images, taken by the SamCam imager onboard NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on October 20, 2020, show the historic Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample...

An artist’s impression of Barnard’s star b. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Astronomers Identify Closest Stars that Could See Earth as Transiting Exoplanet

Oct 23, 2020 by News Staff

Using data gathered by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and ESA’s Gaia satellite, a team of U.S. astronomers has identified 1,004...

Composite image showing Io in radio (ALMA) and optical light (Voyager 1 and Galileo); the ALMA images show plumes of sulfur dioxide (in yellow); Jupiter is visible in the background (Hubble). Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / I. de Pater et al. / NRAO / AUI / NSF / S. Dagnello / NASA / ESA.

ALMA Spots Volcanic Plumes on Jupiter’s Moon Io

Oct 22, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have spotted airborne plumes of sulfur dioxide (SO2), sulfur monoxide (SO), and...

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft readies itself to touch the surface of the near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / University of Arizona.

OSIRIS-REx Attempts to Collect Sample of Near-Earth Asteroid Bennu

Oct 21, 2020 by News Staff

On October 20, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) spacecraft briefly touched...

BepiColombo completed its first flyby of Venus on October 15, 2020, coming within 10,720 km of the planet for a gravity assist maneuver. Image credit: ESA / BepiColombo / MTM / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

BepiColombo Makes Its First Flyby of Venus

Oct 16, 2020 by News Staff

BepiColombo, a joint endeavor between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), successfully completed its first...

When the Moon had a magnetic field, it would have been shielded from incoming solar wind, as shown in this illustration. Image credit: NASA.

Moon’s Ancient Magnetosphere May Have Helped Early Earth Retain Its Atmosphere

Oct 15, 2020 by News Staff

Solar storms strip a planet’s atmosphere over time, and only a strong magnetosphere would be able to provide maximum protection. Lunar samples gathered...

Pluto’s Mountains are Capped with Methane Frost: Study

Oct 14, 2020 by News Staff

The bright frosts observed in 2015 in the equatorial region of Cthulhu on Pluto are mostly made of methane-rich ice, according to new research. This image,...

This oblique color view from the HiRISE instrument onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a lithified field of sand dunes within Melas Chasma, Valles Marineris. The large degree of preserved morphology for many of these paleodunes reveals important information regarding the acting wind regime and climate prior to their cementation. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona.

One-Billion-Year-Old Sand Dunes Spotted on Mars

Oct 12, 2020 by News Staff

Planetary researchers have mapped and characterized ancient sand dune fields in the canyons of Valles Marineris on Mars. Their discovery offers new insights...

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